


Revealing Secrets

by tillyenna



Series: Darling - I'd bare my neck to You [4]
Category: The Avengers (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - D/s, Dom/sub, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-26
Updated: 2013-06-26
Packaged: 2017-12-16 07:03:04
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,253
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/859243
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tillyenna/pseuds/tillyenna
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clint is so private about his relationship, he doesn't want the world to know, he doesn't even really want his team know, and Phil knows and respects that - but things don't always go to plan, this time, it seems like Phil really has no choice. After all, nothing lasts forever, not even secrets.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Revealing Secrets

Of course while secrets are all well and good, nothing ever lasts forever, Clint knew that better than most, and in an environment such as living in the Avengers Tower it was a miracle he and Phil managed to keep their relationship secret for so long.

It happened on a mission. These days there never seemed to be a time when they weren’t on a mission or recovering from a mission, bouncing from saving the world from one evil threat to the next on a weekly basis. Natasha and Clint were the only two Avengers who could still go undercover and, even then, only with the aid of prosthetics, hair dye and all sorts of other appearance altering techniques; Bruce on the other hand could accompany them freely. 

They were back in Eastern Europe, so of course Natasha was acting as front-man (or front-woman as she liked to remind them all), the powerful, rich Russian ex-aristocrat; Bruce her scientific advisor, his grasp of Eastern European languages nearly as good as Natasha’s herself; Clint was playing her clueless American associate, his hair bleached pale blonde and his skin more tanned than usual, green contacts obscuring his eyes. The rest of the team were acting as back up, secured in a safe house outside of the city for when it all went wrong which, of course, it did.

Steve burst into the compound, disabling thugs left right and centre as he did. Tony headed in from the other end, calling out instructions to Steve from what JARVIS was showing him. Thor headed in straight through the roof and nothing that got in his way could stop him.

Tony got to Bruce and Natasha first, they were in a small cell, chained to the wall, all but naked and covered in bruises, Bruce breathing deeply to try and maintain some control over himself.

“I’ve got Widow and Hulk,” Tony informed Steve over the comms.

“Hulk or Banner?” Steve asked, his voice breathless and punctuated by the sounds of him throwing punches.

“Banner.”

“Tell him we need Hulk!” Steve yelled. “And find Hawkeye.”

Tony relayed the orders to Bruce who shot an apologetic look at Natasha before taking a deep breath and turning pure green. His muscles tore the bonds restraining him easily as they grew and, in one swift movement, he reached over and ripped Natasha from the wall.

“Wow,” Tony laughed nervously. “Not how I would have done it, but hey, it worked.” He grinned up at the monster, “Good work Hulk!”

“Find Cupid,” Hulk roared, before smashing off through the compound in a seemingly random direction, leaving Natasha to crash to the floor in his wake.

“He’s that way,” Natasha pointed off to a side door, one that hadn’t been smashed by the Hulk’s exit.

 “Okay,” Tony said carefully and gently. “You’re so kickass I know you could take me in a fight, even now with probably several broken bones...” he started cautiously

“Damn straight,” Natasha glared at him, using a phrase she’d stolen from Clint.

“But I’m going to pick you up and carry you and you’re going to direct me to where Barton is, Okay?”

“Okay,” Natasha agreed, a lot less reluctantly than Tony was expecting.

He bent down and scooped her up in his metal arms, carrying her easily away from the destroyed room.

They found Clint just a few rooms over, strapped to what looked like an operating table, in a far worse condition than Natasha.

“I need back-up,” Tony called over the comms. “I can’t carry both of them.”

Thor appeared by his side in an instant, “Let me carry the Lady Natasha,” he said gallantly. “I can take her to the safe house where the Son of Coul awaits us, but I cannot perhaps take Clint so safely.”

“He needs a smooth ride,” Tony agreed, handing Natasha over to Thor and reaching down to undo the straps which were securing Clint. He lifted the archer’s limp body up and immediately started searching for an exit. As soon as he had found one he told Steve, “I’m heading back to the safe house, Thor has already taken Natasha.” He activated the thrusters, sending himself and Clint soaring up into the air.

“No problem, Iron Man!” Steve called. “I’ll catch a ride with Hulk on the way back, we’ll meet you guys there.”

Steve concentrated more on extraction after that, the objectives of the mission were lost but they’d recovered their operatives and that was what mattered. He managed to corral the Hulk well enough that they headed into the woods to give himself the time and space he needed to calm back down into Bruce.

Steve carried Bruce’s exhausted body most of the way back to the safe house. Although he wasn’t injured, his energy levels were depleted and it was not terrain that was easy to walk across barefoot. They headed slowly towards the safe house, a small one-roomed building in the middle of the woods, with running water, but no electricity or heating.

By the time they got back, Clint was awake again, albeit barely, with Coulson and Natasha between them patching up the worst of his wounds.

“Captain,” Agent Coulson greeted him as soon as he stepped through the door, ignoring Bruce hurrying in naked to find some clothes; they’d all seen Banner naked enough times that it was no longer a cause for any awkwardness.

“How is he?” Steve asked, not that he wasn’t concerned for Natasha’s wellbeing as well, but as she was well enough to be helping with Clint’s injuries, he was clearly the one to be more concerned about.

“I’m fine, Cap,” Clint grinned bravely at him. “Just a few scratches. Thanks for saving me though.”

“The extraction team won’t be able to come for another few days,” Coulson explained. “After the disturbance we just caused SHIELD can’t get into the country for a few days without raising alarm.”

“Understood,” Steve nodded. “Have we got the provisions to stay here for a few days? Will Clint be alright?”

“We can stay here,” Phil confirmed. “Clint should be fine.”

 

Two days later however, it was painfully obvious Clint was not fine. Although his injuries were much better than they had originally looked, he had withdrawn into himself; he wasn’t eating, barely drinking anything, and even then only when Coulson ordered him to.

Steve drew the rest of the team outside, leaving Clint with Bruce, who had taken over the caring for his injuries.

“I think we all know what’s wrong with Clint,” Steve said with a sigh,

“I do not!” Thor protested. “What could ail such a strong warrior so? I would know what these tyrants did to him.”

“He’s in drop-space,” Tony said bluntly. “It happens to subs sometimes, especially when they’ve been forced to submit, like in a torture situation.”

“It ails his mind?” Thor asked, genuinely concern on his face.  
 “Yes and no,” Coulson said, from where he was leaning against the side of the building. “It’s both a psychological and a physiological reaction.”

“One of us needs to take care of him,” Steve spoke gravely. “He’ll only get worse if we don’t do anything, we don’t want this to permanently damage him.”

“Like Barton will let anyone take care of him,”Tony sighed. “He’s so defensive, I’m not sure how he’ll let any of us get close enough.”

For a moment Steve, Tony and Thor stood, pondering what they could do; they’d start to suggest something then stop as soon as they’d opened their mouth until eventually Natasha snapped.

“For fuck's sake, Phil,” she wheeled on Coulson. “How can you just stand there?”

Coulson shot her one of his darkest looks, few other than Natasha could stand them for very long, and said something quietly in Slavic, knowing Steve and Tony wouldn’t be able to translate and Thor was discrete enough to know when he wasn’t wanted to listen to something.

“I don’t care,” Natasha cried, throwing her arms up in exasperation. “Clint will be permanently damaged if you don’t do something about this.”

“This isn’t my decision to make, Natasha,” he said calmly. “Clint made that call some time ago and he is not in a stable enough mental position to revoke it.”

“He will forgive you,” Natasha insisted. “You need to do this, Phil.”

Tony watched on in horror, as the usually so calm and collected Agent Coulson scrubbed his face with his hands, looking more haggard than they’d ever seen him.

“I’ll talk to him,” he agreed reluctantly, before turning to the others. “It would be kind if you would give us some privacy,” he asked.

A glimmer of confusion flickered across Steve’s face, but to his credit, he did his best to hide it. “Of course,” he said generously. “We’ll stay out here for as long as you need, send Bruce out too if you need to.”

Feeling as if the weight of the world were on his shoulders, Coulson stepped back inside the safe house. He asked Bruce if he could give them a few moments and then he was left alone, with his boyfriend sat in one corner of the room, knees curled up to his chest.

Coulson walked calmly over to him, crouching down in front of him before saying, “Do you know what’s happening, Clint?”

Clint nodded. “I’m in drop-space,” he said. “You’re here to take me out of it.”

Phil couldn’t help the smile that tugged at the corner of his lips at Clint’s complete faith in him, he leant closer and brush a kiss against Clint’s forehead. “I have your collar in my bag. Do you want it?”

“Yes, please Sir,” Clint murmured quietly. He watched as Phil stood and moved over to where his personal belongings were kept in a bag, removing the thin strip of leather, before returning to secure it around Clint’s neck. The feel of it being buckled around him, not so tight that he couldn’t breathe, but tight enough that he could always feel it there made Clint let out a whimper.

“My poor boy,” Phil slid down the wall to sit beside him, wrapping his arms around Clint and pulling him so the archer was sat between his legs.

They sat like that for a few hours, Phil ran his hand through Clint’s short locks and pressing kisses to the side of his head, whispering soft words in his ear. Eventually though night began to fall and Phil had to ask, “Is it okay if the others come in?”

“Will you let go of me?” Clint asked, barely aware of how pathetic he sounded.

Phil sighed, and tightened his grip on the younger man. “Not if you don’t want me to,” he promised.

He stood up, only briefly, to thank the others for their patience and open the doors to let them back in. He was eternally grateful for how tactful they all were when he returned back to his previous position, pulling Clint back into his arms.

“Thank you, Sir,” Clint mumbled into his shoulder.

“Huh,” Tony whispered quietly to Natasha. “I’ve noticed Clint calling him ‘Sir’ before, I can’t believe I never put two and two together.”

“This is because you’re an idiot.” Natasha grinned at him, before turning her attention to her best friend. “How are you doing, Clint?”

“Phil’s all cuddly,” Clint replied as an answer, snuggling further into Phil’s embrace.

Tony almost started to snigger, but was silenced by a look from both Steve and Natasha. “Never had you down as a Dom, Coulson,” he remarked instead.

“Phil’s the dommiest Dom,” Clint muttered. “He’s dommier even than Steve.”

“We’ve had this discussion,” Phil sighed, pressing his nose against the soft patch of skin behind Clint’s ear. “That isn’t a word.”

“Really?” Tony asked in surprise. “What’s your score.”

“That’s classified,” Phil sighed, just as Clint held ten fingers up in the air.

Stark let out a low whistle under his breath, “That’s not intimidating at all.” He grinned easily, teasing was after all, his usual way of showing affection.

“Nope,” Clint grinned happily. “It’s awesome.”

“I thought you didn’t have a Dom, Clint,” Tony teased, ignoring the glares he was getting from Steve.

“I don’t,” Clint smiled lazily, reaching up a hand to stroke at Phil’s cheek. “Coulson’s my Handler.” He grinned proudly, this time emphasising the capital H.

Phil just shook his head, pressing another kiss to Clint’s hair.

They fell asleep that night in each other’s arms, Clint occasionally stretching up to press a kiss against Phil’s lips, which Coulson didn’t have the heart to chastise him for, but aside from that, letting his head rest on the older man’s chest. It took another full day of careful after-care before Clint was beginning to return back to his usual snarky self.

“Are you mad at me?” Phil asked eventually, stroking a gentle hand across the side of Clint’s face.  
 “For outing us?” Clint grinned. “No, I was a mess, you did the only thing you could have done.” He glanced over his shoulder to where the others were stood at the other side of the room. “Besides, they haven’t been too bad about it.”

Coulson shrugged almost imperceptibly. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “Tony’s been a dick.”

“Tony is a dick.” Clint laughed, letting his head fall forward onto Phil’s shoulder, relishing in the way the older man’s arms wrapped around him. He looked up at Phil, his gaze sincere as he promised, “We’ll be okay.”


End file.
